TN4 Hop 4
237 miles via US 301, US 64, I-95, I-295 (around Richmond) and VA 242. Truck miles: 254. Cumulative tow miles: 1139. Cumulative truck miles: 1185.
The first “adventure” of the day occurred as I was on my way to fill the tank: the “check engine” light came on as I was idling at a traffic signal. The engine immediately went into “safe mode” which meant that I basically had no acceleration. I pulled over (difficult because I was in a construction zone) and repeatedly turned the engine off, let it rest, then restarted the engine. I had to do that about 8 times before the engine resumed normal operation. I gingerly made it one more block to the Shell station, filled up and then made it back to the RV park without falling back into safe mode.
After chatting with Jett (not a happy conversation) we decided that I should go to the office and warn them that we might be there another night), then go to find a diesel mechanic to take a look. The office person was not happy to hear that we might not be able to move as someone was booked into the site for the weekend. The mechanic (at Brad’s Diesel and Auto Repair) was happy to run the diagnostics – after I agreed to an $85 diagnostic fee. He found three codes stored in the engine’s computer – all relating to injector electrical connections. No huge surprise as that is a chronic problem on the truck. He looked at one harness connector and said that it looked a little loose, so he pushed on it. Hard to say if that had any effect as the engine was running fine at that point – the engine light had even gone away. He cleared the codes and I went into the office to pay my $85 fee. After listening to the boss yammer on for about 15 minutes about trucks and truck modifications with a friend, he finally got around to asking me what I needed (no sense of urgency in Wilson NC). When the mechanic said I was there to pay the $85 diagnostic fee, he waved his hand like he was shooing flies and told me I was good to go. I guess collecting $85 was beneath him. And odd way to run a business, but I was grateful.
So we were pretty much in the same situation we were in a couple of years earlier in Stony Brook VA – the truck might be ok, but there was no way to tell without trying. As the mechanic said then: “If you get 20 miles without out the light coming on, just keep on going.” So we hitched up and drove 20 white-knuckle miles to I-95 and everything was fine, so we kept going.
Other than the usual stop-and-go traffic near DC, the rest of the trip was uneventful. Until we got to the Pohick Bay Regional Park Campground. Check-in was easy but backing into the site was a bit of a challenge because it was so sloped. But we got the RV leveled, hooked up the electricity and deployed the slides. Everything was going great – until I went out to hook up the water. No water source. I walked to the office and they confirmed that the site was “electric only” – no water. Yikes! Five days with no water? Untenable. I asked if any water/electric sites were available but they said that they were completely booked through Saturday night. I will try again on Saturday and will hopefully find an alternate site for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Either that or find a way to get the fresh water tank filled.
I really believed that I had booked a water/electric site. A terrible mistake on my part.
So we are operating on a half-tank of fresh water. I got a couple gallons of drinking water to use in the coffee maker and will have to shower/shave at the public showers. Haven’t done that in a while.
This has not been the smoothest trip north.